[Earth, Spring Valley High]
"Man, I'm tired." Emily thought as she was at the verge of dozing off. Whatever the teacher was saying just would not get in her head.
Yawning, she gave herself a pinch on her arm, "Emily, you need to stay awake!"
Two weeks had passed since that incident had happened... Well, two 'Earth' weeks, to be specific. Back in Fiore, about two months had passed. She had been going back and forth between Fiore and Earth in those weeks. Yukiko had taught her a little basic self-defence, which would not quite effective against the people coming for her. But, hey, at least it was something. She learnt how to properly behave as a princess like how she needed to walk straight, how she needed to be aware of certain things when she is eating and some other things that she would usually violate.
However, that was not the reason why she was tired. The reason for her being tired was that she needed to stay up and sign all those invitations for her declaration ceremony that she needed to attend today, in Fiore's castle.
Thinking about it, a tired sigh managed to escape her lips, "I wonder how am I going to last for the whole day."
"Well, that's all for today. Remember to read up on chapter nine before the next lesson." Her Chemistry teacher reminded as she stood up to gather her materials.
Upon hearing that she jolted up, "What...? It's over? I DIDN'T EVEN LEARN ANYTHING FROM THAT LESSON!"
She grunted and cursed under her breath, as she slammed her head towards her arms that was on the table.
Her best friend, Hailey, came by her desk with a raised eyebrow, "What's up with you today? You look really tired."
"I am." Emily muffled out, while keeping her head down.
"Oh no! What happened to my little Ol' Emily?! Is she trying to be a rebel now, going past her bedtime?!" Hailey questioned dramatically with an exaggerated gasp.
Emily rolled her eyes as she huffed, "No, I had things to do."
"Like what?" Her best friend looked at her suspiciously, "Don't tell me... Are you a part of some mafia group...?" She gasped for the second time, followed by a series of theatrical sobbing.
"Well, I mean you can look at it that way." That was what Emily wanted to say, but of course, she didn't. She did not want Hailey to be dragged into this crazy situation she was in.
So, what she said was, "No, I just needed clean my... room."
Emily was a bad liar. So, Hailey, who was her best friend, could easily see through her.
"Great lie you told there." Hailey smirked, "Are trying lie to your best friend? How cruel. I'm not going to bug you further if you don't want to tell me."
Emily felt somewhat guilty keeping a huge secret away from her. Not because she wanted to, but she needed to, "Sorry."
"It's fine, but can I come by your place?" Hailey asked as she rested one hand on her slender waist.
"Sure, but I wouldn't be there until evening. I had some things to do." Emily answered while staring down at her shoes, "Again, I'm sorry."
"Well then, I guess I'll drop by another time then." Her best friend shrugged with a hint of disappointment, "I'm going to go now. See you tomorrow."
Just as she was about to leave, Emily grabbed her wrist to stop her, "Hailey, I promise I'll make it up to you."
Hearing that, a smile could not help but to make its way to her lips, "Alright, be sure to do that."
With that, Hailey left.
Sighing to herself, she began packing her stuff as quickly as she could. As for today, she really did not have time to spare.
"Should we go now?" Mary asked as she came up behind her, followed by Beck.
"Yeah, just give me a sec." She nodded once before placing her one last textbook in her bag. Once she was done, she zipped her bag close and shot up to her feet, "Alright, let's go."
"Aren't you excited, Emily?" Mary asked, swaying from side to side as the three of them made their way down the stairs, "It's your declaration ceremony."
Instead of feeling excited, she felt anxious. She did not know if people would like her, if people would judge her and most importantly, if people would actually care to attend the ceremony.
Thinking about that, she could not help but to let her mind trail off to the times that she had her birthday.
Growing up, she did not really celebrate her birthday in a form of a party.
Why?
Simple. None of them would show up.
So, before she met Hailey, it always has been Emily, Patricia and--
Well, that was not the time for another flashback.
The point is that something might go wrong.
Like seriously, she could easily mess something up. With thought of that haunting her at the back of her mind, Emily kept her head low and admitted, "Honestly, I don't know. I'm pretty nervous myself."
Mary placed a comforting arm over her shoulders and consoled, "Don't worry. Don't overthink it, just have fun. You got to treat it as a party, you know."
She doubted it, but a smile still forced its way out. "I'll try."
Beck noted her unconvinced tone and added on, "Don't worry about messing up, we will have your back."
"Thanks."
The three of them then went to the back of the school to take a ride to Fiore's Headquarters, before actually heading to Fiore.
When they were making their way there, somehow Emily felt a sense of uneasiness. She did not know why, but she just felt it.
"Maybe because I'm nervous? I don't know. I just hope nothing bad happens."
She then let out a sigh, and shook her hopeful thoughts away to become more realistic.
Who was she kidding?
Something was going to happen, it was part of her daily life now.
"I just hoped something not-so-bad happens"